The following extract from the Midrash T’hillim—the collection of midrashim on the Book of Psalms—deals with the eighth Psalm, the oldest commentary we have on the Creation of Man. The Psalm wonders at the precedence of man in the scheme of the universe, and in his dominion over the things of this world it finds awesome evidence of God’s majesty. The rabbis see in the drama of Creation and in the giving of the Torah the triumph of order over chaos—the beginnings of cosmos. Man’s dominion starts with his rule over himself through obedience to the Divine Will as expressed in the Torah. One recalls here the words of Kant: “Two things there are which. . . fill the mind with an ever new and ever rising admiration and reverence, the starry heavens above, the moral law within.”

Midrash T’hillim is the work of many hands, an unsystematic collection, and it has not been possible to determine the precise date of its redaction; most scholars place it in the age of the Gaonim, 6th to 11th centuries—the work was well known by the middle of the 11th century. It is also clear that the original editor drew on old collections of midrashim relating to the Psalms.

My translation follows the text established by Solomon Buber (Vilna, 1891). The text of the Psalm (and other Biblical passages) is from the Jewish Publication Society version of the Bible.—Jacob Neusner

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O Lord, our Lord,
How glorious is Thy name in all
    the earth!
Whose majesty is rehearsed above the
    heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast
Thou founded strength,
Because of Thine adversaries;
That Thou mightest still the enemy and the
    avenger.

When I behold Thy heavens, the work of
    Thy fingers,
The moon and the stars, which Thou hast
    established;
What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?
And the son of man, that Thou thinkest of
    him?
Yet Thou hast made him but little lower
    than the angels,
And hast crowned him with glory and honor.
Thou hast made him to have dominion over
    the works of Thy hands;
Thou hast put all things under his feet:
Sheep and oxen, all of them,
Yea, and the beasts of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea;
Whatsoever passeth through the paths of the
    seas.

O Lord, our Lord,
How glorious is Thy name in all the earth!

Rabbi Judah the Prince said: We find that the angels quarreled with the Holy One blessed be He concerning man, and concerning the giving of the Torah.

Concerning Man: When the Holy One wanted to create man, He took counsel with the angels, and said to them, Let us make man (Gen. 1:26).

They answered Him, What is man that Thou art mindful of him? (Psalm 8:5).

He said to them, “Tomorrow you will see his wisdom.”

After He had created man, what did He do? He brought together all the beasts, every species of animal and bird, before the angels, and He began to ask them, “What is the name of this one? What is the name of that one?” But they did not know. He said to the angels, “Do you want to know the wisdom of man? I shall ask their names of him and he will tell me.” Then God brought each species before man, and the man gave names to all cattle and to the fowl of the air and to every beast of the field (Gen. 2:20).

[For so it is written, . . . and [He] brought them unto the man to see what he would call them (Gen. 2: 19). Yet is not all foreseen before the Holy One? What then is the meaning of “to see” (lirot) It means “to show” (I’harot) the angels the wisdom of man.]

God then said to man, “And you, what is your name?”

Man answered, “It would please me to be called Adam, for from the earth (adamah) I was created.”

“And Me, what is My Name?”

“It would be proper for Thee to be called Adonai (the Lord) for Thou art the Lord (Adon) of all.” [And so it is said, I am the Lord, that is My Name (Isa. 42: 8); that is to say, “That is My name, for that is what the first man called Me.”]

Directly the Holy One said to the angels, “Behold his wisdom, and yet you say, What is man that Thou art mindful of him?”

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Concerning the Giving of the Torah: When the Holy One came to give the Torah to Israel on Sinai, the angels began to quarrel with Him. They asked, What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? (Psalm 8:5). How glorious is Thy name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:2). Whose majesty is rehearsed above the heavens (Psalm 8:2).

They continued, “Lord of the Universe, it would be proper for You to give the Torah to us who dwell in the heavens, for we are holy and pure, and the Torah is holy and pure. We live, and Thy Torah is the tree of life. It is better that it should stay with us.”

He answered them, “The Torah cannot be fulfilled among the higher beings, as it is said, It is not found in the land of the living (Job 28: 13). And is there any land in the heavens? Where then can the Torah be fulfilled? Among the lower beings, as it is said, I, even I, have made the earth and created man upon it (Isa. 45: 12).”

To what may this be likened? R. Nehemiah in the name of R. Judah said, It is like a man who had a son missing one finger. The father took his son to a craftsman that he might learn the silk weavers’ trade, though it requires all ten fingers. After some time the father returned and questioned the craftsman, “Why did you not teach my son the trade?” “Because it requires all ten fingers and your son has only nine, yet you want him to learn the silk weavers’ trade?” So the Holy One said to the angels, “The Torah will not be fulfilled in your realm, for among you there is neither marrying nor procreating, no uncleanness, no death, no sickness, only you are all holy and pure. In the Torah it is written, This shall be the law of the leper (Lev. 14: 2). These may ye eat. . . [these] ye shall not eat (Lev. 11: 9). Therefore it is said, It will not be found in the land of the living. And therefore God acted out of mercy, and after He made an end to speaking with the angels; gave the Torah to Moses.

After Moses had ascended and had not returned, and the children of Israel did that evil deed and the tablets were broken, the angels rejoiced, saying, “Now the Torah will return to us!” And when Moses ascended to receive the Torah yet a second time, the angels said, “Lord of the Universe, did they not just yesterday disobey the Torah, in which Thou didst write, Thou shalt have no other gods (Exod. 20:3)?”

The Holy One answered them, “Every day you make trouble between Israel and Me! Yet did you not go down to Abraham and eat meat with milk, as it is said, And he took curd, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat (Gen. 18:8)? And even a child of theirs comes from school, and should his mother give him bread and cheese and meat to eat, he says to her, ‘Today the Rabbi taught me, Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk (Exod. 34: 26).’” They could find no answer.

At that instant the Holy One said to Moses, “Write these words [Exod. 34: 27] while they have no answer or rebuttal!”

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